Project Mimic
by TimeGuardian
Summary: Dr. Quest is called by Professor Jeremy Cantrell to Los Angeles to bring new life to some hologram research. When murder enters the picture, Jonny teams up with the Professor's security detail - Frank and Joe Hardy - to find out what's going on.
1. Chapter 1

_Project Mimic_  
By Time Guardian

Chapter One

"You know, it's your fault."

Eighteen year old Frank Hardy looked over at his brother who had made the declaration. They had just been extricated from the car that they had used to chase down a pair of blackmailers. The chase had been a perilous one, taking them through narrow stretches of road near a river. It had been a tight turn that was slick with the morning rain that caused the blackmailers to spin out and end up in the river. It had taken all of Frank's skill to avoid the same fate, only to end up with their car crumpled and flipped up on its side.

The only problem was that it was their father's car.

After nearly fifteen minutes and a 911 call from Frank's cell phone, the police and an ambulance came on the scene. The two were then quickly extricated and checked out by the EMTs, who determined that they lucked out with scrapes and bruises.

Frank shook his head gingerly, doing his best not to aggravate the headache that was trying to come on. "Me? Oh brother, I have to hear this. Joe, what part of this disaster was my fault?"

Seventeen year old Joe Hardy ran a hand through his blond hair and stated what he thought was obvious. "You were the one that witnessed the initial drop to the blackmailers in the first place, and then you go and spot them again coming out of Bayport mall. The only vehicle that was available was dads since we had borrowed it to run those errands we were on. They were leaving the area and at the time we had no other way to keep tabs on them."

Leaning against the ambulance door, Frank pushed aside a strand of his dark brown hair that had blown into his eyes, "Yeah, but if you remember, Dad told us that we were supposed to keep our distance so we wouldn't spook them. The police and Dad's client were hoping that the blackmailers would lead us to their base of operations. Dad's car is totaled after that chase we went on and we have little to show for it."

Two uniformed officers walked past them, escorting two drenched men in handcuffs. Joe pointed at them. "Well, they weren't seriously hurt. They can still lead us to their bosses."

Frank chuckled harshly. "You're pretty optimistic. Odds are they will grab a lawyer as soon as they get near a phone."

They both went silent for the next few minutes, staring at the efforts of a tow truck to pull their car back into an upright position.

Joe smiled. "Frank, remember when we were kids playing 'detective' and we used our tricycles to follow the neighborhood cat?"

Frank looked at him with a wry grin. He remembered it all too well. "As I remember, it wasn't a cat. I didn't think mom would let us back in the house after we cornered that skunk in the backyard."

"I think I lost three layers of skin after all the baths on that one," Joe replied. "Ah well. We'll have to face the music sooner or later. Maybe one of the cops here can give us a ride home."

Wincing, Frank looked back at the remains of their father's car. "Yeah, you're right I guess. We escaped with minor bumps and bruises, and the police have those two in custody. What's the worst that could happen?"

An hour later, they had their answer after they arrived back home. After a quick explanation at the door from the policeman who had dropped them off, Fenton Hardy ordered his sons into his study and had them sit on the sofa opposite his desk.

After spending the bulk of his career with the New York police force, he decided to turn private detective. It meant he could take the cases he wanted, be his own boss, and be around his sons more.

Frank and Joe exchanged nervous looks. The only time that their father had ever been this quiet was before a major punishment.

They sat there motionless as they watched their dad make a few phone calls along with printing something out from his computer. When he finally turned around, Joe noticed that their dad's face wasn't showing anger – instead it was disappointment.

"I am not mad about the car, boys," Fenton began, looking between the two of them, "but I have a feeling you need to be reminded about responsibility. I told you that we needed more evidence on those two and you two took a big risk. What if you had been killed? What if those guys had help? You didn't think this through. I thought I taught you two better than this. Being a detective means more than just 'nabbing the bad guy' – it means following the information and finding the truth."

Fenton sighed as he turned back to his desk. "Since our only leads are probably not going to talk, I will finish the follow through on this case. You two are going to be on guard duty in Los Angeles."

Guard duty? Joe groaned. "But dad, it is summer vacation."

"And? An old schoolmate of mine had called asking me for a favor. He's a scientist working on some hologram technology, and he wanted to meet a friend of his inLos Angelesto exchange ideas and research. I already committed to helping him but since I will be here cleaning this case up, you two will be going in my place."

Fenton turned back around, handing each of them an airline confirmation notice. "Your contact will be with Andrea West, a research assistant for Professor Jeremy Cantrell. She will pick you up at the airport and take you to where he is staying. I managed to make the arrangements last minute, so the seats are not the best. Your flight leaves in an hour, so get packing."

_One day later-_

Thirteen year old Jonny Quest was in an angry snit. He was sitting in the first class section of an airplane bound for Los Angeles, but the news his father had just given him just sank any potential plans for fun. He crossed his arms and glared at his father sitting beside him. "We are going to go to Los Angeles to be 'babysat' by two AMATEUR private detectives?"

Dr. Benton Quest winced at his son's outburst. "That's hardly fair. You had an opportunity to spend two weeks on an archeological dig with Jessie and Hadji. I specifically remember Jessie's mother inviting you. Race was even eager to go."

Jonny bit back an angry retort. Truth be told, the timing of his dad's trip coincided with one of the biggest gatherings of entertainment – the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Being surrounded by new and developing games and other technology surely trumped mucking about in some jungle looking for any vague hints of history.

"Anyway, you didn't let me finish," his father admonished him. "We are going there to meet up with one of my old research assistants, Professor Jeremy Cantrell. He is developing some extraordinary innovations involving holograms. We have been exchanging correspondence and he is interested in what I have done in developing Quest world. He suggested a meet-up to see if his research can benefit from it."

"But why are we going to have private detectives?" Jonny asked.

"Because Professor Cantrell has been and continues to develop technology for the government. This is a side project of his own, so he was going to come with them anyway. When I mentioned that Race would be out of town, Jeremy suggested that he call them in to secure the whole meeting so that our arrangements would be protected and private. This hologram project is a side project of sorts, but with the information he has, the black market and evil geniuses of the world would have a field day."

Jonny reluctantly nodded, and then finally decided to confess his thoughts. "Well dad, it was just that I was hoping we would be able to swing by E3 and check out the new game tech there. I mean after all, with your work with Quest world, surely they would consider you an industry professional and let us in, right?"

He thought his father would be mad. Instead Jonny was shocked to hear his father's laughter. "Ah-ha, so THAT's why you were eager to come with me. Want to hear a confession? Jeremy and I were planning to finish in about a day and a half. That leaves plenty of time to see the sights – or take in what's left of a certain entertainment expo."

Jonny grinned as he relaxed his arms and sat back in his seat. Maybe this trip wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

_Here we go, my first mash-up. This idea has been brewing for a while, and mixes the Hardy Boys (casefiles series timeframe, circa 1987-1998) and the Real adventures of Jonny Quest. What do you think?_


	2. Chapter 2

Project Mimic

By Time Guardian

Chapter 2

After they landed at the airport, Jonny trailed behind his father as they fought their way through the crowds and sought out the luggage area. He'd been to Los Angeles once or twice before when his dad had attended some sort of science symposium in town, but that had been some time ago. The summer crowds were out in full force – vacationers looking for their connecting flights, couples trying to get to the water and their cruise ships, even the occasional business traveler trying to kept their forehead free of sweat despite wearing a full business suit to keep up their image.

It took time, but they finally made it to the luggage carousel and retrieved their bags. Dr. Quest looked around expectedly. "Jeremy said that he would have someone here to meet us."

Jonny looked around the area as well, but couldn't see anyone purposely hanging around. "Are you sure about the timing, dad? They knew we were coming today, right?"

"Let's move towards the exit. Maybe whoever it is decided to wait there."

Following the signs, they soon found an area outside where various cars were waiting for their passengers. There were a handful of people milling about holding placards with various names.

Jonny spotted their ride right away. "Dad, I see him. Come on."

After maneuvering through groups of other travelers hooking up with their rides, he led them to a medium sized silver car at the end of the row. Standing in front of it was a guy that was taller than him, but didn't seem that much older. He had dark brown hair, and the sign he held said "Dr. Quest and son."

_And son?_ Jonny seethed. What was he, chopped liver?

His dad stepped forward. "I am Doctor Quest, and this is my son Jonny."

The guy stepped forward and offered a hand. "I'm Frank Hardy. Professor Cantrell is already at work in the lab space he acquired, but he has asked me to help you get settled in."

Dr. Quest shook Frank's hand warmly. "It is a pleasure to meet you Frank."

They followed Frank's prompting and soon they had their bags loaded and entered the car.

The ride to the hotel was brief, and soon enough Frank was helping them get checked in and helping them with their things into their room on the fifth floor.

Dr. Quest checked the view from the main window in the room and found that he could see the airport from there. "So Frank, where is Professor Cantrell doing his research while he is here?"

"Thanks to one of his research assistants, he was able to secure lab space from the local University," Frank replied as he placed the last of their bags on one of the two beds in the room. "Okay, I think that's everything. Relax for today, and Professor Cantrell is expecting you in the morning – he will send his assistant in the morning to pick you two up."

After Frank left, Dr. Quest turned to Jonny. "I hear that there's a four star restaurant downstairs…how about some dinner?"

* * *

The next morning, Dr. Quest had finished dressing in a dark blue polo shirt and jeans when he heard a knock on their door. "Jonny, please get that will you? I'm almost ready to go."

Jonny, who had already finished dressing in a black shirt and jeans, got up from his bed and opened the door.

The lady that stood in front of him was a head taller than he was, dressed simply in a dark green blouse and black slacks. Her brown hair was drawn into a tight bun, reminding Jonny of a science teacher that he once had long ago.

She smiled. "You must be Jonny Quest. I'm Andrea West, Professor Cantrell's lead research assistant. I'm here to take you and your father to our research facility."

Jonny shouted over his shoulder, "Dad, our ride's here!"

Dr. Quest rushed up to the door and smiled. "Yes, and I'm sure everyone else on this floor heard it as well. You are Professor Cantrell's assistant?"

Andrea nodded simply, "Yes, and it is a pleasure, Dr. Quest. Professor Cantrell has nothing but the highest regard for your work. If you two are ready, let's get going."

An hour later, they finally reached their destination. The college was large – Jonny counted at least six different buildings as they turned onto a small side road that wound through the property. Various trees dotted the landscape between the buildings as well as framing the small roadway, giving it almost a tunnel-like effect.

When they pulled up to the parking lot near the last building on campus, Andrea commented. "Welcome to the college I called home for six long years."

"Couldn't get enough of the learning, Miss West?" Dr. Quest asked as they got out of the car.

Jonny watched as her smile thinned. "After I received my degree, I decided to stick around for a while. After spending a day here, you will agree the surroundings tend to spark quite a bit of creativity. Now, if you will follow me please?"

They followed the sidewalk as it curved around and ended right in front of the last building. Andrea pushed the double doors open, and they were greeted with a blast of frigid air from the air conditioned environment.

The hallway snaked out in all directions, but she kept to the main part which took them to a sliding door that seemed to be protected by a security sensor. Andrea took a card out of her pocket and swiped it in front of the sensor beside the door. The sensor flashed a bright green color, and then the door slid open. She stood off to the side and motioned them to go inside.

Jonny stepped in and was immediately impressed with what he saw. With the amount of high end electronics in the room, this made the lighthouse back home seem like a child's playground. The rectangular shaped room was bigger than most classrooms that he had been in. The walls were lined with various computer systems, some of which he had only seen in high-end tech magazines. There was also a long table in the center of the room with additional computer and chairs. "This is some setup."

"Indeed," Andrea commented as she followed them into the lab, pride deep in her voice, "Our alumni have been most generous – we have been able to get state of the art equipment and that has allowed Professor Cantrell to advance far with his work with holograms."

Jonny noticed that the person that had helped them at the airport was sitting at the opposite end of the table, intently studying a computer screen. There was another guy sitting next to him that seemed to be close in age to him, but had blond hair.

Andrea then spoke up. "You know Frank from where he helped you two yesterday, but let me introduce Frank and Joe Hardy to you. They are private detectives like their father, and graciously agreed to help Professor Cantrell keep things secure for the duration of his stay."

Dr. Quest walked over and shook each of their hands. "It is good to meet you."

So THESE were the private detectives they were told about. Curious now, Jonny stepped forward. "So you two solve a lot of cases?"

Frank smiled. "Yeah, my brother and I have solved quite a few mysteries in our time."

Joe rolled his eyes. "You're supposed to be the humble half of this operation, remember?"

Before Jonny could ask them anything else, he heard the sliding doors opening and turned back to the entrance. A man had entered and judging by his facial expression when he approached his dad, this was the person they had come to see.

Doctor Benton Quest grinned as he extended a hand to his colleague. Jeremy was still a head shorter than he was and his short brown hair had no signs of gray. Wearing metal framed glasses and dressed in a white lab coat with a dark green shirt and jeans, it was as if Benton had only last seen him yesterday. "Jeremy, it is good to see you again."

Professor Jeremy Cantrell stepped forward and offered his own hand. After a hearty handshake, he laughed. "Benton, I am so glad you had the time to indulge my extracurricular activities."

"Well, our work runs along parallel lines," Benton declared. "Why don't you show me to your research and we can get started."

Jonny followed closely behind them. If he was going to be hanging around all day, he wanted to do something. "Can I help in any way?"

His dad turned and frowned. "Jonny, as much as you may like the equipment, these units are highly valuable machines by the university. I'd prefer if you did not touch them. Why don't you go sit by Frank and Joe?"

Jonny sighed. This was like being in a candy store where everything was guarded by attack dogs. Fine, there were better things to do than to hang around a place where he couldn't do anything. "Fine, I'm outta here then. Dad, can I go back to the hotel? I could catch a cab."

Benton frowned. "I don't feel comfortable with you catching a cab alone in this town."

Joe noted Jonny's look of frustration before he pushed his own chair back.

"Where are you going?" asked Frank.

"To get something to eat," Joe replied before turning his attention to Dr. Quest, "Dr. Quest? I'm going to go grab some lunch and then I can get him back to the hotel with the rental car."

Dr. Quest nodded approvingly. "I can agree to that."

Frank glared at Joe. "Don't be too long. Professor Cantrell wanted us to get him over to that early presentation this afternoon at the auditorium."

* * *

Jonny stalked out of the room and managed to reach the outer doors. The heat that hit him felt like a wall, but anything was better than sitting around and watching everyone else work on the cool stuff.

"Hey! Wait up!"

Looking back, Jonny inwardly groaned. _Unwanted company, goody_. "Joe, tell my dad I don't need a bodyguard, all right? I'll even call a cab so that I won't bother you."

"It's nothing like that," Joe replied lightly. "I am hungry and I was going to scope out some seafood at one of the restaurants round here. Want to come? It'll be my treat, and then I will get you to your hotel."

Jonny glared at him. He wanted to be alone but the thought of a free meal was too good to pass up. "Let's go, then."

* * *

_I came up with Jonny's age from the writer's bible that is on the Questfan website._

_Next Chapter: Lunch and strangeness._


	3. Chapter 3

_**Project Mimic**_  
A Hardy Boys/Real Adventures of Jonny Quest crossover  
by TimeGuardian

Chapter 3

It took a half hour of driving around, but Jonny and Joe eventually settled on a small diner that was only a few blocks away from the college. It was a busy place, filled with college students sitting on stools at the main counter. The dozen booths around the space were sparsely filled. The wood paneling along the walls and the pale blue color of the stools made the whole place feel like they had walked into a time warp.

They took their seats at a booth near the door and put in their orders with the waitress.

Joe leaned back. "So, something tells me that traveling with your dad was not high on your list of summer activities."

Jonny snorted. "What gave me away, Detective Obvious?"

Joe laughed. "Okay, I guess I deserve that one."

Jonny shifted in his seat. "My turn now: How did you and Frank become detectives?"

"It was a lot of talking and emotional blackmail," Joe replied with a grin, "but the short version is that our father is a detective and we took an interest in the profession."

"Ah," Jonny nodded, "why didn't your dad come with you guys?"

Joe grimaced as he remembered the conversation that their dad had with them before they had left home. "No comment."

Their waitress soon came by with their plates piled high with fish and French fries, and they dived right in.

"This is goof fud," Jonny noted appreciably, mouth full of food.

Joe laughed. "When I said I'd buy you lunch, I didn't expect you to inhale it."

The next minutes were spent in near silence as they both polished off their meals.

"So," Joe started after he pushed his empty plate away, "what about your dad? It must be pretty interesting to have a scientist for a dad."

Jonny shrugged. "Interesting, if you mean tagging along behind him, barred from doing anything interesting."

Joe leaned forward and grinned. "Come on, there's more to this, isn't there?"

"Believe me, you have NO idea."

A sudden beeping sound startled both of them until Jonny looked down at his own wrist. "Sorry about that. I have a communicator built into my watch. Someone's trying to call."

He touched a button on his watch and turned a dial before he spoke into it. "This is Jonny."

A familiar voice rang out from the device. "Jonny? Where are you? I have been trying to get in touch with your dad about the science event at the end of the month, but he wasn't answering his phone or communicator."

"Race, he probably got involved in his work and forgot again," he replied. "I can get the message to him."

When he shut the communicator off, Jonny looked up and noticed Joe staring at him. "What?"

"You have access to gadgets like that?"

Jonny grinned. "It also has GPS and a mini-holographic generator too. If you are ever in Maine, definitely come and look us up. Our systems in our lighthouse may pale in comparison to a college lab, but we make up for it in games, most of which I programmed."

"Games? Now that I can get into," Joe replied appreciably. "I better get back to the lab. Frank and I are chauffeuring the Professor over to a presentation soon. Considering the message you got, did you want to come back with me?"

"Why not? If worse comes to worse I can get you and Frank to tell me stories about the 'good old days'."

"Frank and I are not THAT much older than you," Joe retorted as he grabbed the keys from their table. "Now hurry up before I leave you here."

* * *

Despite the late afternoon and traffic, they made it back to the college in under a half hour and managed to find parking near the lab building.

When they went through the double doors of the building, Joe was grateful for the air conditioning cooling them off. It was going to be a long afternoon and-

"Joe, the door's open to the lab. Should it be open like that?"

As they approached the lab, Joe noticed what Jonny was right - the door that was supposed to keep the lab secure was slid open. The lights on the security door sensor were blinking yellow and red. "No. The Professor told us that door was to stay closed unless someone scans their card through the security scanner."

Jonny didn't like where the implication was going. "Let's get in there and make sure everything's okay."

"Stay behind me," Joe cautioned before taking a step forward and into the lab. What he saw stopped him in his tracks: A small pool of blood started in the doorway and seemed to trail further into the lab. _What happened here? _

Jonny tried to duck around him. "What's wrong? I-" He stopped talking and froze when he saw the blood trail.

Over in the corner, Joe spotted Frank sprawled out face down on the ground. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that his brother was breathing and that the blood trail did not come from him.

There was also a faint odor of something in the room – Joe couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. It was making him slightly lightheaded, which wasn't helping the sense of panic he was feeling at the sight of everyone else laying on the ground as well.

_Keep it together_, Joe told himself as he continued to follow the trail of blood to the other side of the table where he found Professor Jeremy Cantrell laid face down on the ground. Blood pooled around him from what looked like two stab wounds in his back.

"Jonny – don't touch anything. Like it or not, this is a crime scene," Joe warned him. He quickly fished in his pocket and after finding his cell phone, he tossed it to Jonny. "Get out of here and call 911 now."

As much as he wanted to argue, Jonny knew Joe was right. Still, he couldn't help feeling a sense of helplessness as he spotted his father lying on the floor near the opposite end of the lab table. He could see that his dad was breathing, that much didn't worry him.

It was the knife covered in blood that was clenched in his dad's hand that scared him senseless.

* * *

_Dr. Quest is being framed...or is he? I think I will hide behind the nearest rock as I develop this little plot twist. ~ducks~_

_Next chapter: cops, bars, and accusations_


	4. Chapter 4

4

As soon as Jonny left the lab, Joe stepped carefully around the blood trail and quickly went over to Frank. He did a quick cursory check and after finding no wounds on him, he checked his brother's pulse. _Slow but steady, thank goodness_.

He knew that there would be only minutes before the authorities would show up. Joe placed a hand on Frank's shoulder. "Frank, please wake up!"

Joe was rewarded with a low moan from his brother. He continued. "Come on, Frank. That's it – I know something this room hit you hard, but I need you to wake up. We've got real problems here!"

He wanted to sigh in relief as Frank lifted an arm, pushing himself sideways until they were face to face.

Joe smiled. "That's more like the hard-headed brother I know and love. You feel like you can stand up?"

Frank brought a hand to his head and moaned again. "What happened?"

Joe frowned as he glanced over his shoulder. "That's what I was hoping you would tell me. I found the professor dead."

"What?" Frank exclaimed. He slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, all the while trying to look in the direction Joe was.

"Take it easy," Joe cautioned. "We are right in the middle of a crime scene and on the face of it this scene is looking way too obvious. I told Jonny to stay out in the hall and call the cops."

"The cops," Frank muttered. "Murder – great, that's just what we needed. I wish my head would stop spinning long enough to try and remember what happened."

Joe did his best to keep the worry out of his voice. "I hope it does, at least for Jonny's sake. As it stands right now, it looks like his father is a murderer."

* * *

Jonny's anxiety was through the roof by the time that the cops showed up.

After setting a perimeter, they left a patrolman to guard the entrance while they worked inside. More than once, Jonny tried to get inside but was held back.

Twenty minutes later, Joe stepped out of the lab. As he got closer, Jonny could see a worried look on his face. "Joe, what's happening in there? What about dad and Frank?"

Joe put a hand on his arm. "Jonny, listen to me. What's happening in that lab is serious stuff."

Oh no, he wasn't about to pull a big brother routine on him. "Don't try to placate me, Joe. That's my dad in there!"

The grip that Joe had on his arm tightened. "Listen, I happen to know the stakes in this – my brother is in there too. The professor is dead and we have no idea what truly happened in there. Right now it does not look good for your dad, but that is why we need to stay strong. You think that you can do that for me?"

Jonny took a breath, but couldn't quite shake off the numbness that had overtaken him. "I –I need to get in touch with my family. They need to know what happened."

"I know what you mean," Joe replied somberly.

* * *

The hours passed by in a blur. Joe's frustration grew as two different detectives interviewed both he and Jonny both in the lab hallway and then in the waiting room of the hospital once they arrived there. He knew that they were trying to do their job, but it had been too long since he got a chance to speak to Frank.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the authorities allowed the doctor to lead him back into one of the emergency room bays. He had lost sight of Jonny during his last questioning session by the detectives, and he could only hope that they were taking good care of him.

Jonny sat in the waiting room, his head in his hands. No one was telling him anything, and even the detectives were keeping him apart from Joe for some reason.

The questions that the detective asked him were repetitive and made him angry. He still didn't know what was going on and judging by the questions neither did the detectives.

"Mr. Quest?"

Jonny looked up from where he was sitting to find a doctor standing in front of him. "Yeah?"

The doctor that stood in front of him was a young man with bright red hair and judging by the dark circles under his eyes, he was in the midst of a long shift. His name tag read 'Dr. Ryan.' "If you are Jonny Quest, I have a very anxious father of yours that is awake and wants to see you right away."

Relieved, Jonny got to his feet. Maybe things were finally looking up. "Lead the way, doc."

* * *

Frank laid on a gurney in one of the Emergency Room bays and breathed deeply through an oxygen mask. The haze that was flowing through his head earlier seemed to be fading now, and his thoughts were finally coming in clearer.

Joe came into the room and sat in a chair across from him. Frank could see that his brother had the same worried look that he had when the left the university in an ambulance to come to the hospital.

He removed the mask from around his face. "Joe, I'm fine. Will you please get that worried look off your face?"

"That's easy to say when you weren't the one who found their brother face down in the lab a few hours ago," Joe retorted. "Are you sure you are okay? Do you remember anything about what happened while Jonny and I were gone?"

"A little," Frank reluctantly admitted. "Most of it is still hazy though. Were you able to find out anything from the authorities on scene?"

Joe shook his head. "Nah, in fact I got blasted for walking in there and trying to get you conscious. Once they read me that riot act they sequestered me and Jonny in the hallway until the ambulances rolled out."

"Have you had a chance to talk to the others yet?" Frank asked.

Joe shook his head. "I wanted to talk to you first. Has a detective been in to see you yet?"

Frank nodded. "For all the good it did him. I gave him what I could, which wasn't much. Now how about you tell me what you two saw when you got back to the lab?"

He listened intently as Joe recounted what he and Jonny had encountered. When his brother finished was finished, Frank pushed himself into a sitting position on the gurney. "The doctor should be back soon. Once I'm sprung, we can get to work on this."

Joe smiled. "That's what I hoped you would say. Jonny needs our help. Oh by the way, while I was waiting on word about you, I managed to get a hold of dad."

Frank groaned. "What did he say?"

"He was worried more than anything else. After I reassured him you were going to be fine, I gave him a play by play of what we know so far. He agreed with me that something about this stinks."

Frank nodded grimly. "Agreed - this is way too pat. When they wheeled me out of there I overheard one of them say something about going to talk to the security personnel for any surveillance video footage of the lab. Considering how the scene was set, I have a bad feeling that Dr. Quest is going to be arrested before the day is out."

* * *

_I'm back, albeit slower – let's just say arthritis hates my guts and leave it at that. Next chapter will be soon._

_Till later,_

_TimeGuardian_


	5. Chapter 5

5

Doctor Ryan guided Jonny through a myriad of corridors and past the main emergency room area until they came to an area that contained a group of private rooms near the end of a hallway.

Any feelings of relief he had fled as soon as he saw the two cops that were flanking the doorway of one of the rooms. "Why is the room guarded?"

Stopping a few feet before the entrance to the room, the doctor shook his head simply. "That would be a question better posed to your father."

Jonny tentatively stepped between the two guards and into the room.

At first glance, it looked like a typical hospital room. The walls were painted in a pale pastel green. A TV was moored to a high far corner and in the center of the room was a bed surrounded by various medical machines.

What made this room different were the black metal bars that surrounded the only window in the room. Two men in dark grey suits and wearing badges stood silently on the other side of the bed.

His father was stretched out in the bed. He seemed pale, but Jonny could see that he was awake. He quickly ran over and gave his father a fierce hug. "Dad. You're all right."

The smile Dr. Quest gave him was weak. "It's good to see you, Jonny."

Numerous questions ran through his head but one important one stood out. "Dad, what happened in the lab?"

His father shook his head sadly. "I don't know, Jonny. One minute we were working on inputting data for our initial computer simulation, the next I wake up here."

One of the two dark suited men that were on the opposite side of the bed spoke up. "Doctor Quest, we have something that we would like to show you."

Jonny looked up as the man who had spoken lifted a PC tablet up to where they could view it. On the screen, a series of images played out.

He could recognize that it was an overhead security view of the lab, complete with incrementing time and date stamps. His father was wearing a lab coat and was huddled near where Professor Cantrell stood in the far corner of the lab. Andrea moved quickly between different computer workstations in the room while Frank remained stationary near the entrance to the lab. The video continued that way for nearly two minutes until suddenly white plumes of smoke wafted into the shot.

_What the?_

Jonny watched in horror as the smoke spread across the screen, both Frank and Andrea started to sway and then stumbled before falling to the ground. Professor Cantrell also began to sway.

That was when he saw his father take a knife from the pocket of the lab coat and stab the professor twice in the back. Stumbling, his dad then moved wildly around the lab with the knife in his hand for nearly a minute before finally dropping to his knees and then falling forward to the floor.

The final shot of video was a carbon image of what Jonny remembered seeing when he arrived back to the lab with Joe – everyone on the ground with blood everywhere.

The shock of what they watched was apparent. Jonny watched as his father went wide-eyed, his jaw slack. "I do not remember any of this."

When the small screen finally went dark, Jonny immediately went on the defensive, turning on the man holding the screen. "There is no way that is my father on that footage. He is not a killer."

The other man standing on the other side of the bed spoke up. "Images do not lie. So far we have managed to keep this out of the major press outlets, Doctor Quest, but we do have our orders from Intelligence One – you are to be detained until further notice."

Jonny's anger bubbled over. "I refuse to believe it. I'm not leaving here without my father."

He was more than surprised when he then heard the tired voice of his father. "May I have a moment alone with my son, please? I can assure you that I am not going anywhere."

Each of the men gave them both a hard look before turning and slowly walking around the bed and out of the room.

After a few seconds his father grabbed his hand. His voice was low and quick. "Jonny, I know I can't talk you out of this but please, drop it for now."

Jonny couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Dad, you are being framed. I know it."

"Of course I know it too, but you can't investigate this alone. The authorities have allowed me to contact Race and the others. They can't get here for about three days due to storms in their area, but they will bring our computer equipment with them. Promise me that you will wait until then."

Jonny was feeling frustrated. He yanked his hand out of his father's grasp. "Dad, please, we have Frank and Joe right here in LA. They can help!"

Dr. Quest shook his head emphatically. "No. Please Jonny, do as I say. Now I can call one of my contacts here, get them to watch you and-"

"We can watch over him, Doctor Quest."

Jonny looked over in some surprise as to the source of the voice and found that Frank and Joe had entered the room.

"I would be indebted to you if you two would do that," his father finally replied. "Now if you don't mind, I am sure the agents outside would like to come back in."

Jonny looked between his father and Frank and Joe. This was one of the few times he felt truly helpless and it gnawed at him badly. Still, his father had made the decision. "Okay - take care of yourself, Dad."

Turning, he walked back towards Frank and Joe, motioning them to exit the room as well.

It wasn't until they were outside in the hallway that Jonny turned back to Frank and Joe. He needed all the help he could get. "I need your help but we need a better place to talk away from prying eyes. Can you get me back to my hotel room?"

Frank smiled. "Consider it done."


	6. Chapter 6

6

They managed to hail a cab, and within the hour they were back at the hotel where Jonny and Dr. Quest were staying.

Jonny slid his keycard into the door lock and slowly opened the door into the room. He looked around carefully as he flipped the light switch near the door.

The room appeared undisturbed, the luggage they had brought in initially still sitting on the respective beds. In the far corner of the room near the main window was a round conference table with two red leather chairs on either side.

The curtains in the room were open, letting in the sunlight from the sunrise. Jonny looked out in amazement – so much happened in such a small space of time but they were far from a solution.

Frank and Joe took seats at the table while Jonny sat on the closest bed.

Jonny finally declared. "My dad is being framed for something he didn't do!"

Frank held up a hand. "Before we jump the gun here, why don't you tell us what happened in your dad's hospital room before we came in?"

For the next few minutes, Jonny related the contents of the video that the agents had shown. When he was finished, Frank frowned. "That doesn't sound right."

Joe turned to him. "I think it should be your turn now, Frank. Now that you have had time to clear your head, what do you remember of this?"

Frank got to his feet and began pacing the room. "I remember when you two left – I decided to stay near the entrance to the lab to give everyone else the room they needed. Andrea was acting fully wired, bouncing around and hovering around Dr. Quest and Professor Cantrell until they had to order her away from them. She then stuck around some of the outer computer stations in the lab after that."

"Clingy, eh?" Joe asked. "That could be something."

"But Frank, wasn't she the one that made the arrangements for Professor Cantrell to come here? You had said a research assistant-," Jonny protested, trailing off as he looked at Frank continually pacing.

"Yes, to hear her tell it, she was his 'right hand girl' – her words, not mine," Frank replied. He finally stopped pacing. "I'm not sure how much longer the lab was like that but the only other thing I remember is a thick white fog descending from the top of the lab. Once I caught a whiff of it – I don't remember anything else."

"Did the hospital manage to identify the substance?" Joe asked.

Frank shook his head. "Whatever it was didn't show up on any of the tests that they performed on me."

"For it to affect you that way, and yet the video – that video can't be right," Jonny determined.

Joe exchanged a look with his brother before looking back at Jonny. "We don't believe it either, do we Frank?"

"There are too many unanswered questions here, and something does feel wrong here," he acknowledged.

Jonny stood up as an idea came to him. "Look, you two are private detectives, right? Dad asked you two to look after me until help comes. The closest help dad and I have won't be able to get here for three days. Surely there's something we can do to find out what's going on in the meantime."

Joe looked over at Frank. "As long as he stays with us, he can't get into trouble, right?"

Frank was beginning to feel outnumbered. He held up his hands in protest. "Whoa, wait a minute now you two. We promised to keep an eye on Jonny and that would also mean keeping him safe."

"How better to keep me safe than to help me investigate?" Jonny pleaded before crossing his arms. "There is safety in numbers and besides, every minute we waste here means that whoever did it is covering their tracks even further!"

It was nearly a minute before Frank finally nodded. "I have a feeling this isn't what your father meant, Jonny, but you are right about one thing - we do have little time to lose. We'll do this but we will do it right. Jonny, you make sure that you stick close to us at all times. Now all we need is a plan of attack."

Joe added. "The first person we need to talk to is Andrea. She is the one that set up these arrangements of using a college lab for his work."

"We also need to talk to whoever controls the security feeds for the building. Something about that footage was way off." Jonny added as he moved over to his bed, grabbing the laptop computer he had left there. "If we could get a hold of it, I have the ability to analyze it with the link to our Quest mainframe back home."

Frank glanced over at him. "You have access to a mainframe computer?"

Joe grinned. "You should see the watch he wears."

* * *

After making a few phone calls, they found that Andrea was released from the hospital. With little information to go on, they decided to head back to the college campus.

When they arrived and headed back to the lab building that they had been in only hours before, they found the area buzzing with activity despite the early hour. There were cops stationed at the entrances of the building and a few feet away from the building, yellow tape was wrapped around the surrounding poles and trees to create a perimeter.

A small crowd had amassed nearest the yellow tape near the front entrance. A young patrolman stood guard over the potential access point but the look on his face was of pure frustration.

Frank spotted the reason for the frustration as they made their way through the crowd.

Standing near the patrolman, Andrea West was still wearing the same clothes she had on when they were in the lab, but by now her blouse was badly wrinkled and untucked from her slacks. The bun she had worn in her hair hours ago was long forgotten - her frizzy, tangled hair draped around her shoulders like a drunken spider.

Her voice was a near shriek, the patrolman her unfortunate target. "It's not fair! It's simply not fair! Do you know who I am?"

"She doesn't seem too broken up about this," Joe commented as they pushed through the crowd.

"No kidding," Jonny replied.

"We play this carefully. Follow my lead," Frank cautioned them as they got closer.

Once they were beside her, Frank spoke up. "Andrea, we didn't expect to see you here so soon."

Andrea whirled to face them. "They are desecrating the very memory of Professor Cantrell! I must continue his research!"

Jonny looked at her face. For someone so devoted enough to make such arrangements and be constantly around someone she admired, he couldn't see one tear on her face.

Joe spoke up. "What's the hurry, Andrea? The cops check out any scene thoroughly - none of us can get around that short of a call from the governor."

Andrea threw up her hands. "You don't understand. Professor Cantrell was due to meet with an influential investor within the month and he needed to be able to present his work in order to be given the green light to proceed. Of course I am upset that he is dead, but that doesn't mean that his work has to be lost!"

"You know, when we were briefed you and the professor never told us - what was the rest of his hologram research about?" Joe asked.

"He was finding ways to enhance them."

"Enhance them?" Frank echoed.

She waved her hand dismissively then turned to glare back at the patrolman guarding the entrance. "Espionage without putting human lives at risk. Professor Cantrell was finding a way to attach biological information to the transmission of holograms."

Jonny spoke up. "I get it. DNA, fingerprints - other things like that. My dad was working along similar lines but strictly in digital form. No wonder Professor Cantrell wanted to collaborate with dad."

Andrea scowled and pointed at Jonny. "I don't want him anywhere around here. Thanks to his father, the works of Professor Cantrell were almost lost."

Anger surging through him, Jonny stomped forward. "Just a minute you miserable witch-"

Frank held out a hand to block his advance. "Easy does it, Jonny. The nice lady is obviously dealing with her grief in her own way."

Andrea's scowl deepened. "Look, I didn't see or notice anything out of the ordinary other than that sweet smelling gas. The security footage tells the rest. Now if you three don't mind, I have to be available when they reopen the lab."

Frank, Joe, and Jonny turned away and started pushing back through the crowd, which had since grown since they had their conversation with Andrea.

Joe shook his head. "What a dragon lady. There's nothing like being dismissed like the hired help."

Jonny looked around at Andrea as they walked away. "Did she sound fake to you guys?"

Frank glanced at him. "I know she is but we are not going to get much more here. We better get to the security department. The building is in the opposite direction here."

Once they were free of the crowd, Jonny followed Frank and Joe as they walked the opposite way from the building and onto a sidewalk path that led to a smaller building. A sign on top of the building proclaimed it to be 'security.' It was more modern in appearance, the outside mixes of steel and dark wood - but Jonny's thoughts were still focused on what Frank had said.

He somehow knew that Andrea was a fake. But how - and better still, _why_?

Jonny was still lost in thought when an arm seemingly out of nowhere quickly snaked around his neck, choking off his flow of air.

* * *

_Um, yeah - cliffhanger ahoy! ~Hides behind rock~ More soon._


	7. Chapter 7

_When last we left this story..._

Once they were free of the crowd, Jonny followed Frank and Joe as they walked the opposite way from the building and onto a sidewalk path that led to a smaller building. A sign on top of the building proclaimed it to be 'security.' It was more modern in appearance, the outside mixes of steel and dark wood - but Jonny s thoughts were still focused on what Frank had said.

He somehow knew that Andrea was a fake. But how - and better still, why?

Jonny was still lost in thought when an arm seemingly out of nowhere quickly snaked around his neck, choking off his flow of air.

_and now, the story continues._

* * *

Surprise gave way to panic as Jonny clawed at the beefy muscular arm that was around his throat. Darkness slipped onto the edges of his vision. Desperate for ideas, memories of Race's martial arts lessons flooded his mind.

Jonny braced himself as best he could and quickly swung his left foot back, hoping to connect with his attacker. Sneaker connected with flesh and Jonny heard a low groan come from behind him, but his attacker's grip didn't give an inch.  
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two other figures that looked as big and as strong as this guy seemed to be. This is an ambush.

Suddenly another body collided with them from the side. His attacker must have been surprised, because the grip around his neck loosened. Jonny's vision slowly came back into focus as he saw that Joe had been the one to tackle them.

Once the guy released Jonny, Joe unleashed a right hook that sent the man staggering. He then saw Jonny quickly target the guy's knees with a well placed kick, effectively bringing him down to the ground.

Joe then rushed over to where Frank was defending himself against the two other attackers.

Frank landed an uppercut on the attacker in front of him, barely managing to sidestep the other one that was trying to keep behind him.

"Need a hand?"

Joe's voice was a welcome one. Frank focused his efforts on the attacker in front of him as he called out. "Get the goon behind me off my back."

"Got it."

Frank then lashed out with a kick that caught his attacker squarely in the stomach.

The man stumbled but instead of fighting back, he motioned wildly to the other two men. "Go! Go!"

Just as suddenly as the attack started, the three men fled in the opposite direction towards the crowd that surrounded the lab building.

Frank turned to focus on Joe and Jonny. "Are - are you two all right?"

"Fine here." Joe replied as he looked over Jonny. "Are you all right, Jonny?"

Jonny gratefully took in a huge lungful of air as he stretched and dusted himself off. "They - they were trying to kill us."

Joe nodded. "Not the best way to verify our suspicions, but we do seem to be onto something."

Frank looked around quickly as he was catching his breath. "It's also interesting that none of the campus security guards came to our rescue. Let's get going."

When they entered the security building, they went through a short hallway that emptied out into a large room. In one corner a series of cubicles were set up. On the opposite side, there was an open doorway surrounded by glass. Through the opening, Joe noticed a small room with one wall covered with monitors, each showing what looked to be different video feeds of different buildings on campus. A long desk spanned under the monitor wall with numerous computers and chairs. There seemed to be no one around save for a lone figure seated in the far corner of the monitor room.

Joe leaned through the doorway and called out. "Hello?"

The person seated in the monitor room turned and called out. "In here."

The three of them walked into the room slowly, heading for the person that was sitting in the corner. From what Joe could tell, the person seemed to be a young man dressed in a security uniform. The man's short hair was a dark shade of brown. When he turned around in his chair, Joe noticed that the security badge on the man's uniform read 'Sergeant Seth Granger'. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Joe spoke up. "I'm Joe Hardy. This is my brother Frank and this is our friend Jonny Quest."

Seth leaned back in his chair and gave them a hard look. I know who you three are. You guys were caught up in that mess in the lab building. Too bad that professor got knocked off."

Frank folded his arms. "You don't seem to care a whole lot, considering this happened on your watch."

The declaration was met by a shrug from Seth. "How were we supposed to know? When we got copied in for the security request approval for the lab building, all that was mentioned was the amount of people that would be in the room, and that private security arrangements were made."

Frank exchanged a look with Joe and Jonny. This guy seemed to be all too eager to deflect blame with the murder. It was time to change the subject. "Are you the only one here right now, Seth?" Frank asked.

"This early in the morning is our busiest time. My guys are checking the buildings, escorting professors to their offices, and making sure no one starts a food fight over at the student cafeteria. "

Joe frowned. "You know, we could have used some help outside a few minutes ago. We were on our way here to talk to you and we were just attacked by three guys looking for trouble."

Seth crossed his arms and glared at them. "Take a number - between the murder, cooperating with the police, the press trespassing all over the place hounding us for requests, and not to mention our morning routines that I just mentioned, we have only just enough manpower to cover the campus and monitor this system."

Frank nodded in appreciation as he glanced around the room. "I can see where this would keep your group in the loop as it were, along with recording the feeds. So where does the video feed drop to?"

"We have a dedicated mainframe in the IT building, but I have orders from the police and the administration not to let anyone anywhere near it."

Frank pressed forward. "I'm sure you don't want to counter important orders like that. Do you at least have any feeds from cameras outside here?"

"Nope, because due to the budget, the cameras are only in the buildings," Seth replied in a nonchalant tone as he turned his attention back to the computer in front of him. "Now get out of here before I have you guys thrown off campus."

* * *

Jonny pushed the door open roughly as they exited the security building. They seemed no closer to answers than when they first started, and he couldn't help but feel frustrated. "We could have gotten more from him."

Joe shook his head. "I doubt it. He seemed to be more concerned that his dinky little security detail was working with the local authorities."

Frank let out a sigh as he walked a few steps ahead of them. "This opens up a whole new set of problems."

"Frank, how did you know that Andrea was being fake?"

Jonny's question was sudden and it made Frank turn around. "Think back to what she said about the gas - she described it as sweet smelling, remember?"

He watched as Jonny thought about it. "Yeah, she did. So?"

"Wait a minute - I get it," Joe piped up. "How did she know that it was sweet smelling? Neither you or Dr. Quest remember much about the gas at all."

Frank nodded. "Exactly. Even if she had nothing to do with this situation, she seems to remember more about the gas. That tells me that she has something to hide or at least should have been one of the last ones to succumb to the gas. The only problem is that our potential proof is sitting on a computer system that's being guarded by someone who wants us out of here. A court order would take too long for us to organize and hacking their systems is out of the question."

"No, the firewalls would be too numerous," Jonny readily agreed.

Joe gave him an odd look. "Look, I'm not even going to question about how you know that. Keep in mind we have some players in this that are bigger than us, Jonny. We need the proof through proper channels."

Undaunted, Jonny brought his wrist up to touch a few buttons on his watch. "Then we're going to need some leverage." After a few moments a beep came from the watch and he then quickly spoke into it. "Hello Race? Before you say anything, I have a story to tell and a big favor to ask."

Frank watched the exchange with a growing sense of admiration as he grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and started dialing.

"Frank, what are you doing?" Joe asked.

"Just adding a little more leverage," Frank replied as he made his own connection. "Hello dad?"


	8. Chapter 8

An hour later, they reconvened at Jonny's hotel room. Jonny sat on his bed, his laptop open and powered on. Joe and Frank stood behind him, staring at the progress on the tiny screen.

There were three windows open on the computer screen. In the first window, Race Bannon's worried face stared back at them. In the second, Fenton Hardy stared at them.

The final window contained information about a file transfer and a status bar that was creeping slowly up to a hundred percent.

"Phil wasn't happy to be hearing from me, Jonny. It may be a public university, but the amount of red tape we had to wade through was pretty tough for such a short timeframe," Race explained over the computer communication link. "If it weren't for him and Mr. Hardy's combined efforts, we would have nothing."

"Mr. Bannon is right," Fenton continued. "Even with my contacts in the FBI, we both got pushback like you wouldn't believe. The files coming over the wire to you now are certified to come directly from the mainframe that Mr. Granger told you about. Of course the only footage that the investigating authorities are concerned with is of the murder itself, but we went for forty-eight hours of data. Phil's people held onto a copy of that we asked for and are analyzing it now as a favor to Race."

"Thank you, Race," Jonny replied solemnly as he watched the status bar complete its journey on the screen.

"Don't thank me yet," Race replied harshly. "It's killing me that we can't get to you right now. The local weather services here state that we should be clear for takeoff in another twelve hours. You shouldn't investigate this alone - there's way too much danger in this situation if whoever did this was able to frame your father for this."

Jonny sighed. "Joe and Frank are experienced investigators. As long as we stick together, we can make headway on this. I can get our mainframe at home analyzing this data and I am pretty sure each of us is more than willing to bring in the police on this."

He looked up at both Frank and Joe, all the while holding his breath. They had readily agreed to help him earlier but after being attacked on campus, Jonny wondered if they would still back him up.

"I trust my sons' judgment on this," Fenton stated. "Boys, how about it?"

To say Joe was surprised was an understatement. He exchanged a glance with Frank and in turn his brother nodded, gesturing towards the computer._ Okay, here goes._

Joe cleared his throat and plunged in. "Dad, we have the resources here to see this through. Every minute we delay means this cover-up gets even more solid. We will keep an eye on Jonny and as he said, we will call the cops when we get the information we need."

On the computer screen, his father smiled back at them grimly. "I'm glad to see that my previous discussion with you two was understood. I have to go. Take care and please be careful."

And with that, Fenton Hardy's image on the computer screen disappeared.

Jonny smiled. "Thanks, Joe. Race, see you when you get here."

Race Bannon smiled. "We'll be there ASAP. Be careful, Jonny."

Race's image on the computer screen disappeared, leaving only the one window on the screen showing the completed transfer of files.

Joe turned to Frank and Jonny. "How about if I get us a couple of pizzas while you guys start into that footage?"

Frank nodded. "Hurry back. With forty-eight hours of video footage, we're going to need all the help we can get."

* * *

As they worked through the next few hours, they accumulated a pile of empty pizza boxes in one corner along with a handful of empty soda cans.

Frank and Joe stared intently at the laptop stationed on the bed while Jonny stretched and walked around.

"You guys have a lot of patience for this sort of thing," Jonny groused. "All I have seen so far is students and teachers filing in and out of that lab. Not exactly riveting or revealing. I was sure we would see something out of the ordinary by now."

"Maybe, maybe not," Joe conceded. "There has to be something we are missing."

Jonny finally stopped in his tracks. "I have an idea."

He walked back over to the laptop and typed in a few commands. "Let me bring up the video of the murder. You two haven't seen it yet first hand yet."

Once the video came on the screen, Frank and Joe watched it intently while Jonny inwardly cringed. He remembered the sequence of events all too well from when the agents showed it to him in his fathers hospital room.

Frank stared at the video for a few moments before he exclaimed. "Wait a minute! Jonny, could you isolate this video and put it side by side with some of the footage from an hour before this?"

"Sure," Jonny replied. He leaned back over the laptop, typing in commands furiously until he brought up the video feed in question. "You saw something, Frank?"

"I think so," Frank muttered as he leaned closer to the screen. "Since there was nothing out of the ordinary movement-wise - yes, I've got it! Check the timestamps on the murder video versus the regular footage."

Both Joe and Jonny leaned in close as each video feed played out its respective timeframe. Jonny's eyes widened as he realized what Frank was trying to point out. "The timestamps are the same!"

"None of the other footage is like this," Joe declared. "Someone deliberately replaced the regular footage with the murder footage."

"Mr. Granger has a lot to answer for," Frank stated as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Frank, what are you doing?" Jonny asked.

"Calling the police on this, like we promised our fathers."

Joe watched Jonny tense up at the declaration. "Hold on, Frank. Jonny, what is it?"

Jonny glared at Joe. "This isn't enough to go to them with - they'll just accuse us of changing the footage."

Frank thought about what he said for a moment before putting his phone back into his pocket. Jonny had a point - but there was something else that could be checked to confirm his suspicions. He stalked forward to the laptop and put in commands of his own.

In response to his efforts, both video feeds disappeared, replaced on the screen with the network source data for each feed.

Jonny watched his efforts and nodded appreciably. "You are checking the source addresses, aren't you?"

"Yes."

Frank checked quickly and realized the source addresses for both feeds were not the same. If the video had all come from the same source, the addresses should have matched. He snatched up a notepad from a nearby nightstand and quickly scrawled down the address from the murder footage. "Now all we need is a way to trace this address."

Jonny stepped forward and plucked the paper out of Frank's hands. "Allow me - I should be able to cross reference it with the school's network using our tracing software."

"But what if this was done outside of the school?" Joe asked.

"Highly unlikely," Jonny replied as he sat down on the bed and moved the laptop to his lap. "As I said before, the firewalls are numerous on the inside. Besides, Mr. Granger said that the security mainframe was a dedicated one, remember? That ratchets up the difficulty level getting to it from outside the school network."

Jonny set to work, bringing up the software from a network connection to the mainframe at the Quest compound. It was a few minutes before the software finished its task, offering up the information he was looking for. He powered off his laptop and stood quickly. "The address from the murder footage comes from the security building on campus. Let's go."

Frank nodded as he grabbed for his phone. "We'll go, but now we have enough for that phone call. Joe, you drive. Let's hurry."


	9. Chapter 9

9

It was nearly five in the evening before they arrived back on the campus.

Joe maneuvered their rental car and parked close to the security building before shutting off the vehicle. He watched the throngs of evening students milling around the grounds as he heard Frank talking to someone on the phone about the case.

Moments later, Frank ended his call and pocketed his phone. "I have a call in with the LAPD and FBI with the information we have learned so far and a request for background checks on Andrea West and Seth Granger. After I also explained to the detective in charge what we discovered about the video, they are calling the detective on scene here to meet us at the security building."

Joe leaned back in his seat. "So we wait."

From the backseat, Jonny looked outside restlessly. They were close to an answer, he just knew it. The waiting however – "Why don't we go find Andrea and make her answer for what she did to my dad?"

Joe answered him quickly. "We need proof, that's why. Thanks to you, we now have enough to go after Seth. With the right pressure, he could rat out Andrea easily."

Before Jonny could protest further, an unmarked police car pulled up in the space beside them. Lights flashed brightly from their hidden spots in the grill and dashboard of the car.

The red-haired man that emerged from the car was lean and slightly taller than Joe. He was dressed plainly in a dark blue sports shirt and slacks. A detective LAPD badge was situated on his belt, and a shoulder holster he wore was situated with what looked like an automatic pistol.

Frank got out of the car and motioned for Joe and Jonny to do the same. Once they were all out of the car, he took a step towards the detective and extended a hand.

"I'm Frank Hardy, and this is my brother Joe and our friend Jonny Quest."

In return, the man extended his own hand and gave Frank's hand a hearty handshake. "I'm Detective Maxwell Sanders. My partner is the one who took your call and has briefed me. Of course, we will expect you to turn over the findings of your research on this but what we have learned about Seth Granger in the meanwhile coupled with this warrants a talk with him. Follow me."

Detective Sanders then turned and headed for the sidewalk.

As they caught up with him, Joe asked. "Just what did you discover about the security guard?"

"It was my partner's discovery actually," he replied. "It's part of that background check you requested, Frank. The department is still working on it overall, but it was discovered that Mister Granger has a membership with a local anarchist organization that we have had our eyes on now for the past year."

"Anarchist?" Jonny echoed.

"They believe and operate in chaos and mayhem, Jonny," Frank replied. "So if someone was looking for a willing participant in getting secrets that could help overthrow a government, this is the type of guy that person would be looking for."

Detective Sanders nodded solemnly. "Exactly. Considering the type of work that Professor Cantrell was into along with his purpose in coming here, he would have made a prime target for someone like that."

They walked the short path leading towards the security building until they reached the main door. Detective Sanders opened the door and ushered them inside.

As before, Frank noticed that building for the most part seemed deserted. He pointed out the monitoring room to Detective Sanders and they headed into the room.

Frank, Joe and Jonny were more than surprised to see that Seth Granger was sitting at the exact same computer workstation that he had been sitting at when they visited him before. The video screens were also active as before, showing different feeds of different buildings on campus.

They stayed back as the detective walked forward, clearing his throat loudly. For his efforts, Seth Granger wheeled around in his chair to glare at them. "What do you – oh, it's you guys. I thought I told you that I didn't want you on campus."

Detective Sanders smiled as he stepped forward. "My name is Detective Maxwell Sanders and I am from the LAPD. Mister Granger, we were doing some additional checks into the murder of Professor Cantrell."

Seth's tone was dismissive as he turned his chair back towards the computer workstation that he was working at. "I remember you, detective. In fact, I remember giving statements to you and your partner as well as personally turning over the monitoring footage of that lab. Now if you will excuse me, I need to return to my duties. There was a student protest over near the Humanities building that my men had to break up a few moments ago, so I have to make sure that things are okay elsewhere."

Jonny thought they had been stonewalled again until he heard Detective Sanders make another statement. "We actually have more questions about this monitoring footage that you provided. There seems to be something out of the ordinary that we found. The timestamps seem to be a bit odd."

He grinned, knowing full well it was a gamble that the detective was trying. He was more than curious to see if Seth would rise to the bait.

They watched as Seth stood slowly and then bolted for the exit!

Detective Sanders quickly took off running and launched a flying tackle, catching Seth by the waist. Both men went down hard on the carpet.

Frank motioned to Joe. "C'mon, let's help him get Seth under control."

Jonny watched as Frank and Joe dived into the fray to help Detective Sanders. While the man managed to secure Seth's arms, it was all Frank and Joe could do to hold down the security guard's legs.

A movement out of the corner of his eye then caught his attention. Jonny turned around to find that Andrea West was running out of the monitoring room and towards the exit. She was getting away!

He turned back around and saw that Detective Sanders had Seth in handcuffs and with Frank and Joe's help had him already standing up. They apparently never noticed Andrea's abrupt exit.

Decision made, Jonny ran up to Joe and stated his intentions. "Andrea was just here. I'm going after her."

Turning, Jonny then quickly made for the exit.

It took a moment for Joe to realize what Jonny had meant. "Jonny, wait! Frank, after him! He's going after Andrea alone!"

Frank and Joe ran out of the security building but their path was choked with students leaving and heading towards evening classes. To their frustration, they quickly lost sight of Jonny.

Joe was ready to take off into the crowd. "He has a head start on us. We have to find him!"

Frank put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Hold on, Joe."

Joe turned and stared at him intently. "What?"

His thoughts were whirling madly in his head. "I have a plan, Joe, but we don't have much time and with Andrea still on the loose Jonny is in danger. Try heading back to the lab building – Andrea seemed so determined to get back into it that will probably be where she is heading. Call me as soon as you catch up to him and I will meet up with you as soon as I can."

"Got it," Joe replied with a nod and turned to head towards the lab building.

As he started running, Joe heard Frank call out. "Joe? Be careful."

He shouted back over his shoulder. "You too."

* * *

When Jonny spotted Andrea exiting the security building, his urge to find out where she was going overruled common sense. He was sure that his dad would ground him until doomsday once he got wind of this, but he didn't care. Jonny was determined to find out what was going on and keep Andrea in his sights.

He soon was frustrated as Andrea managed to lose him in-between two large groups of students heading towards the Student Union. Jonny stopped for a moment to catch his breath and to ponder his options before deciding on heading towards the lab building.

Once he got in range of the building, Jonny noticed that the crime scene tape was still in place but there did not seem to be anyone guarding the perimeter.

Jonny looked around quickly to make sure no one was paying attention to him. Once he was satisfied, he quickly ducked under the tape and quickly ran into the entrance of the lab building.

The hallway was deserted and only served to fuel uneasiness in him. Still, he had come this far and he was determined to see it through.

Jonny reached the end of the hall and stood in front of the lab that had been in the center of all of this. There had been police tape in front of the door here too, but someone had torn them down and they were lying in a heap on the floor nearby.

He looked around, but saw no one. _Maybe she didn't come back here._ _I'll take a look around and -_

Jonny froze as he heard a familiar voice from behind him.

"You."


	10. Chapter 10

10

The one word held a world of vehemence in it. Jonny slowly turned around to find that the woman he knew as Andrea West was holding a long sharp dagger pointed directly at his chest. He raised his arms slowly and took a slow step back. The suspicions that Frank and Joe had were easily confirmed but now Jonny was regretting his choice to follow her alone.

All he could think to do for the moment was stall for time. "We knew it was you, Andrea. You were the one that secured the lab for the professor and made the arrangements for the gas, not to mention getting Seth Granger to fake the security footage for you. Why did you do it?"

Andrea scowled. "For his discoveries, of course. All the professor lived for was the thrill of the discovery. He had no vision. You and the Hardy's couldn't let this go, could you? I had buyers clamoring for this technology – millions of dollars up in smoke, all ruined by a punk kid and a couple of private detectives."

She grinned wickedly and motioned at him with the dagger. "You are a pest and I will kill you soon enough. First things first: into the lab with you."

He eyed her warily and slowly stepped back until he was standing in the middle of the lab area. The judo lessons that Race had put him through in the past flashed through his mind. No matter how he tried though, Jonny couldn't see an opening – Andrea kept just out of his reach and her hand containing the dagger remained steady.

Once she was standing in the lab with him, Andrea motioned to him again. "Step over to one of the computers and run a directory list. Look for a file that is titled HOLO001."

He did as she asked, walking over to the nearest workstation and activated it. A menu quickly popped up, and from it Jonny managed to find the directory with the file she asked for. "I found it. Do you want me to-"

"Out of the way!"

Andrea violently pushed him out of the way and he staggered a few steps back. He watched as she typed a command to display the file.

As he watched her, Andrea kept typing and muttering out loud. "Yes – this is it. Professor Cantrell stored a copy on the server in order to make a few tests – yes, I can sell this."

Jonny saw a chance for escape – Andrea was busy reading over the data file on the computer screen. Her attention was not all on him. If he could make it to the outside, he could signal to the cops and get her surrounded.

Before he could talk himself out of the notion, Jonny took off, daring not to look back.

His heart sank as he heard Andrea shriek. "I am going to kill you!"

Jonny poured on speed and managed to make it to the doorway of the lab.

Suddenly Andrea's arm came around his neck and jerked him bodily back towards her. With a mad cackle, Andrea used her other arm to plunge the dagger into his right shoulder.

Pain exploded into his consciousness, taking his breath away and nearly making him pass out. Jonny struggled to get away from her grasp, but the hold Andrea had around his neck was strong. He yelled in pain as she pulled the dagger back out.

A shout from down the hallway then got his attention.

"Andrea!"

Jonny breathed a little easier when he saw Frank and Joe cautiously edging their way down the hallway towards them.

Joe spoke up, though his voice sounded distant. "It's over, Andrea. Let Jonny go. The cops know the truth now. Seth confessed how he manipulated the security footage in your favor."

Jonny cringed as her shriek blasted his eardrums. "NO! I won't let anyone stop me!"

There was a blur of movement, and he watched helplessly as Andrea hurled the dagger at them. _No!_

To his relief, what he thought was Frank and Joe shimmered out of sight, the blood soaked dagger clattering harmlessly to the floor. Andrea released her hold on him and he quickly crumpled to the ground with a painful moan.

Noises and activity buzzed all around him, but Jonny couldn't quite latch onto what was going on until he saw Joe standing above him. He smiled weakly at his rescuer. "You're real, I hope?"

In reply, Joe got to his knees beside him and started checking his wounded shoulder. "Last time I checked, I was."

Through the haze of pain, Jonny managed to put two and two together and realized what had happened. "Well played with the holograms. How did you guys find me?"

Joe grimly smiled as he applied pressure to Jonny's shoulder. "Frank figured out that you would come back here looking for Andrea. Now let's get you in an ambulance before you bleed all over the floor."

* * *

During the ride to the hospital, Jonny thought he was only closing his eyes for a few minutes - anything to escape the pain that he was in.

The next time he opened his eyes Jonny found himself in different surroundings. He was in a hospital bed, with a sheet and blanket pulled up to his chest.

It was then that he realized that he wasn't alone. Turning his head, Jonny saw that his father was sitting beside his bed. He noted that his dad was worse for wear and looked like he hadn't slept in a while, but it was good to see him free. Jonny moistened his lips and smiled. "Hi dad."

"Hi, yourself. How are you feeling?"

Jonny laughed weakly and tried to crack a joke. "Fuzzy. I suppose hitting up the rest of E3 is out of the question?"

His dad gave him a tired grin. "That ended two days ago. I'm afraid you slept right through it."

Jonny thought for a moment as he looked around the bed he was in. An iv was attached to his arm, leading up to a bag full of what he surmised was making him feel fuzzy. The shoulder that Andrea had stabbed was swathed in bandages. His body felt like lead but still Jonny could feel the warmth from where his father was holding his right hand.

"Jonny?"

He could see a worried look in his father's eyes now.

Jonny rushed to reassure him. "I'm okay, dad. Did Frank and Joe get Andrea?"

His dad nodded. "After they used Professor Cantrell's hologram software to distract her, it apparently was the last straw for her sanity. She collapsed to the ground laughing maniacally and never moved until the police and FBI stepped in to arrest her."

Voices suddenly rose from outside of the room. Jonny looked over at the doorway to look for the source, only to find that Frank and Joe had already walked in.

"We just got off the phone with our dad," Frank stated. "Andrea West is currently in FBI custody under psychiatric observation."

Dr. Quest smiled warmly, reaching out and shaking Frank's hand before switching over and shaking Joe's hand. "I want to thank you two for saving Jonny's life. Your father should be proud of you two, and I will make sure that he hears that straight from me."

Jonny piped up. "You know if you two are ever up in Maine, come see us. I can finally show you those games I telling you about."

Frank and Joe both smiled.

"Count on it," Joe declared. "We have a plane to catch, so we'll leave you two alone to catch up. Take care, Jonny. It was good working with you."

Jonny watched them leave. He hoped that they would take him up on his offer.

He felt a squeeze of his hand and Jonny turned back to look at his dad. It was time to face the music. Jonny felt a sense of reluctance. "So how much trouble am I in, dad?"

"You should be in a lot of trouble, young man," Dr. Quest replied with a sigh. "Tell you what, you get some sleep and allow that pain medication to settle in some more. We'll talk in the morning when Race and the others get here."

That sounded like a plan. The fuzzy oblivion that the drugs offered was already making him yawn. "All right, I'm just glad that we were able to clear your name."

After he made that simple declaration, Jonny Quest allowed his eyes to close and was soon fast asleep.

* * *

_Arthritis tried to keep me down, but I am back (albeit much slower – I may have to move slower to help manage the pain, but at least the ideas are still coming.) Thanks for reading my first attempt at a crossover._


End file.
